Awake, for morning in the bowl of night has flung the stone that puts the stars to flight

And, lo, the hunter of the east has caught the sultan’s turret in a noose of light.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable – Christopher Howse: ‘A Pilgrim in Spain’.

Cosas de España/Galiza

The Ceuta ‘Invasion’

• Ceuta’s leader has accused Morocco over the ‘atrocity’ of mass border crossing, claiming it was at least encouraged or permitted by Rabat. . . . Spanish Intelligence sources have said that the roots of the influx probably lay in a hoax that had swiftly spread across social media after a Spanish supreme court ruling that migrants arriving by sea could not be summarily deported.
• More here on the cited internet campaign urging Moroccans to storm the border fence. And maybe again on 15 August.
• Right wing media – not only in the USA – has inevitably indulged in scaremongering, claiming for example that illegal Moroccan immigrants will end up in the UK. This is not even a remote possibility, as the AI note at the end this post explains.
• Which makes it surprising that the EU has used the event to say borders much be strengthened. In the East and along the Med coast, I guess, not in Ceuta and Melilla.
• Final note on this – The Ceuta authorities have identified 528 unaccompanied minors among the 2 or 3,000 still in the enclave.

HT to David in La Coruña for this article on one way to prevent wildfires – regenerative farming. Clearly something to be subsidised.

Says David on the subject of tourism . . . La Coruña is tourist saturated. The “big one” comes with next week’s solar eclipse. Not a room is to be had, and 5 (FIVE) cruise ships on the 12th will disgorge some 12,000 people. Cue the port area cafes charging 8 Euros for 2 tepid coffees.

How to watch Spain’s August 12 solar eclipse safely – and where to find special sunglasses to enjoy the spectacle.

I was interested to see that in China – unlike here in Spain – more men than women still smoke – more than 50% v. only 3%, respectively. But Chinese women are rebelling and seeking regulation of this nuisance. Roll on the day when only 3% of young Spanish women smoke. But, then, if it’s not permitted on terrazas, I won’t care as much about what they’re doing to their lungs in search of ‘sophistication’ and weight control.

Portugal

I’ll be doing the Portuguese coastal Camino next month, as far as Vigo. Or maybe Redondela. Any comments, advice or recommendations would be welcome. [Which reminds me .. . . . I drove to and from Vigo airport today and was surprised/horrified to see so many folk walking on narrow paths alongside the truck-laden N550 instead of following the arrows of the real Camino. Perhaps they were following Google’s ‘shortest’ – and most dangerous – route to Arcade].

The Middle East War

The latest update from Naked Capitalism. The USA again fabricates claims re peace talks.

The United States of Trump America

I’ve visited the USA a lot and I’ve always enjoyed doing so. But I’m glad that – except for a few months – I’ve never lived there. It was always a strange – if dynamic – place but now seems truly beyond weird. Kurt Andersen’s book – Fantasy land: How America Went Haywire – has left me with the clear impression that this is very largely because of the growth of Christian Nationalism and of the Right in the last 50 years or so. Which are connected, of course. Did you know, for example, that in 2004 the Republican party supported measures to combat Global Warming but in 2008 did a 180 degree turn and denied its existence – a precursor to Trump labelling it a Chinese hoax and describing countries with windmills (ie turbines) as ‘losers’. He, of course, will go the way of all flesh but it’s an open question as to whether the USA will ever return to sanity. Which is a key question not just for the USA but for the entire world. Perhaps the increasingly rapid collapse of its empire will be the catalyst for this.

It’s been said that the besetting sin of the country is an obsession with money (ie greed). Back in the late 18th century de Toqueville wrote: “I know of no country where the love of money has taken stronger hold on the affections of men. The love of wealth is such that all the movements of the soul end up there. No stigma attaches to the love of money and it is held in high esteem. Ambition for riches is seen as noble rather than slavish greed”. One does wonder how this is to be reduced or eliminated. Trump, of course, is perhaps the best modern exemplar of this. As of now, the country is run by billionaires whose only real interests seem to be to have millions more cash and to protect themselves – as ‘preppers’ – from the revolution they’re stimulating. So, plus ça change . . . Hence the Financial Bible.

I’ve managed to resist the temptation to quote daily from Andersen’s book. It was actually written in 2017, way before Trump’s appalling 2nd term. Which, in fact, seems to have answered the criticism that Andersen’s portrayal of the USA was overdone. I’m looking forward to the last chapter, on Trump and his first year in power. By the time of his election, Andersen had been lampooning him for 30 years. Not a fan,

Social Media

The totally democratic internet is proof of the validity of the old saying that the bad drives out the good.

Spanish

• Morador: Resident
• RAEE: Residuos de Aparatos Eléctricos y Electrónicos: Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment: any equipment that runs on electricity or batteries and that its owner discards or intends to discard when it reaches the end of its useful life.
• Asomar: To show, poke out, appear, loom, etc.
• Asomarse: To look out, peer, peek, etc.

Did you know?

English merchant Nathaniel Bentley became known as Dirty Dick when he stopped washing in his late 30s. His filthy shop in London became a tourist attraction. He was said to have changed after a ruined love affair, allegedly after his fiancée died on the eve of their wedding. Charles Dickens knew of the story, which may have inspired that of Miss Havisham in Great Expectations. More on him here, where you can learn of the pub called Dirty Dicks, which has been operating in Bishopsgate for more than 250 years.

You Have to Laugh

‘Sparkling wit’: A leading authority is anyone who has guessed right more than once.

Finally . . .

It happens quite frequently that a correction I think I’ve made in my draft text doesn’t appear in my published post. Yesterday, for example, I was convinced that I’d inserted ‘despite 30’ before ‘days of endless rain’. So, is this an example of something only happening in my brain, the sort of thing lawyers can make much of when questioning a witness in court? BTW . . . I will have read my text at the very least thrice before publishing any post. But, as I’ve said before, my brain sees what I intended to write, not always what I’ve written. This isn’t helped by the fact that the spellcheck doesn’t pick up all errors in drafts in Word.

My thanks to those readers who take the trouble to Like my posts.

Finally . . . Finally . . .

On the issue of illegal immigrants passing through Ceuta to Spain and then the EU

Under current EU and Spanish rules, people who enter Spain irregularly via Ceuta (or Melilla) cannot simply travel on to mainland Spain, the rest of the EU, or the UK.

Why Ceuta is different from “normal” Schengen travel

• Ceuta is Spanish territory and part of the EU, but it has a special border regime within Schengen.
• There is a “double filter”:
  1. A control at the land/sea border with Morocco.
  2. A second Schengen-style identity check when leaving Ceuta (or Melilla) by ferry or plane to mainland Spain.
• In practice, this means no one can board a ferry or flight to the peninsula without showing ID and being checked by Spanish police.

Because of this, irregular entrants in Ceuta are not automatically entitled to:

• Remain in Spain
• Travel to mainland Spain
• Move freely within the Schengen area.

EU officials have explicitly stated that migrants who entered Ceuta irregularly will not be allowed to move freely to other EU countries.

What happens if someone tries to leave Ceuta for Spain/EU/UK?

• To mainland Spain (and thus the Schengen zone):
  • They must pass identity/document checks at the port or airport.
  • Without valid papers or a legal status, they will normally be stopped, identified, and either detained, processed for asylum, or returned under applicable procedures.
• To other EU countries:
  • Free movement in Schengen applies to EU citizens, residents, and legally admitted third‑country nationals, not to people who entered irregularly and have not been regularised.
  • Other states (e.g., Italy after the 2026 Ceuta surge) can and do reinstate temporary border controls on arrivals from Spain as an extra safeguard.
• To the UK:
  • The UK is not in Schengen and has its own border controls.
  • Anyone arriving from Spain (including from Ceuta via the peninsula) must pass UK border checks and show a visa or other right to enter. Irregular status in Spain makes lawful entry to the UK very unlikely.

Asylum and returns

• People in Ceuta can apply for asylum, but that triggers an accelerated procedure and possible detention; it does not grant an automatic right to travel to mainland Europe.
• Spain’s stated policy, supported by EU statements, is that irregular arrivals via Ceuta/Melilla do not get a free pass to the continent; many are returned to Morocco, sometimes after brief processing.

In short: irregular entry via Ceuta does not give a legal route into mainland Spain, the wider EU, or the UK. Movement beyond the enclave is blocked by mandatory identity checks and border controls that irregular migrants cannot lawfully pass.

The Usual Links .

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I can also be read on X at Thoughts from Galicia. And on Substack here. I no longer post on Facebook.

For new readers: If you’ve landed here looking for info on Galicia or Pontevedra, try here. If you’re passing through Pontevedra on the Camino, you’ll find a guide to the city there.

If you´re thinking of moving to Spain, this link should be useful to you. And this, on the annual costs of owning property here.